Bow to Blood, one of last year’s most underrated PSVR gems, is pulling into the PC VR port soon.

Developer Tribetoy today announced Bow to Blood: Last Captain Standing. It’s essentially a port of the original game coming to Switch, Xbox One and PC. HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support is being added to the latter. Check it out in the trailer below.

In Bow to Blood, you enter a televised tournament. Commandeering a flying ship, you take part in different match types that have you completing objectives to earn points. The core gameplay is sharp but where the game really shines is its relationship system. Over the course of the tournament, you can choose to ally with other contestants to avoid being voted off.

That means completing favors for friends and making fragile alliances. You’ll often find yourself having to stab people in the back before it happens to you. It’s a wonderfully unpredictable system that gives the game some life.

But the news keeps getting better. The original PSVR version of the game will also be receiving a free update that includes new additions from Last Captain Standing. That means a new Hard difficulty, more enemy ships and improved visuals.

“There’s a lot to learn about Bow to Blood and not all of it’s to love, but what does work elevates the game to soar with all the majesty of its battle-hardened ships,” we said in our review of the game. “This is a deliciously strategic bit of randomized arena battling that might not make the most compelling case for VR itself but stands as a thrill to play in its own right.”

Look for Bow to Blood: Last Captain Standing to arrive sometime in April.

Here’s one use of AR that’s utterly ingenious and yet we wish it never existed. Someone’s brought The Ring to life in terrifying form. Oh good.

The Ring was an excellent 1998 Japanese horror film (which got a not-so-excellent English remake in 2002). The series is best known for its iconic, horrific image of a creepy girl crawling out of a TV. She then pursues and murders people that have been watching a video of her. It’s enough to make you switch off. Well, in AR, you can’t really do that.

In the video above, the ghostly figure crawls out of the TV before pursuing the AR user across the halls of an office. While the initial stunt is chilling in itself, we’re most impressed by the AR rendition of the classic ‘turn around’ jump scare. Not even our real reality is safe anymore.

It’s an old video but we thought it’d brighten up your Monday morning (sorry). It’s the work of AR developer extraordinaire Abhishek Singh. He’s a regular topic of discussion here at Upload, making a Super Mario level in HoloLens and bringing Road Runner cartoons to life. He seems to have all of the best ideas for AR apps. You can follow along with his work at this website.

To think that Singh was doing this sort of work with year-old AR tech has us excited for what’s next. Rumor has it Microsoft will be revealing the second iteration of its HoloLens device at MWC later this month and we’re hoping for some big improvements.

Preview build 18329 adds “the ability to launch Desktop (Win32) applications (such as Spotify, Paint.NET, and Visual Studio Code) in Windows Mixed Reality, just like how you launch Store app.” Access the feature by bringing “up Pins Panel, then go to all apps, where you will find a folder named “Classic Apps (Beta)”. In this folder, you will be able to select and launch any Desktop (Win32) applications.”

We are expecting a major announcement from Microsoft later this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company released the standalone HoloLens AR headset in 2016 and is due to release a follow-up. In 2017, Microsoft equipped partners with its tracking technology to power a series of VR headsets. The company’s future plans in VR are unclear.

Microsoft supports Universal Windows Platform apps for virtual worlds to visit downloaded from the company’s storefront. The company also encourages developers to ship on Steam if they have a virtual world that’s built as a classic Win32 app. Traditional flat-screen UWP apps can also be pinned to surfaces in Microsoft’s home space. Until now, though, classic windows apps haven’t gotten the same treatment.

The feature is in development, according to Microsoft, and they are working to address bugs. So be sure to report the bug if you encounter a problem. We haven’t tried the latest Windows Insider builds yet to to test out the functionality but we’ll update this post when we do.

The British Army awarded Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BiSim) a £1 million contract to develop VR training software. The scheme is called ‘Virtual Reality in Land Training’ (VRLT).

The army claims VRLT “will allow soldiers to train in a wide-range of complex and hostile simulated scenarios that are not easy to recreate on a training ground”.

The software is based on BiSim’s Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3). VBS1 was created back in 2001 by Bohemia Interactive as a fork of the game Operation Flashpoint. Bohemia Interactive went on to develop the ArmA series and spun BiSim off into a separate company. VBS is now used by over 30 militaries around the world.

The British Army has been using VBS3 for over 2 years now. But it hopes change from a desktop interface to VR will “improve environmental immersion”.

VBS3 has had basic VR support since October 2016, but this contract should allow that support to be expanded. An important new feature will be a realistic custom avatar system. This will let soldiers recognize each other’s faces.

“Mixed reality” will also be tested to allow soldiers to “see and interact with physical objects”. No further details of this feature were provided, but we’re curious what hardware this will involve.

VRLT is only a trial for now. Soldiers will give feedback and the army will decide whether to make this a part of future training. But VR offers immersion and physicality that a monitor can’t compete with. VR training software has been high successful across multiple industries already, and it seems likely VRLT will be successful too.

VR film “Marshall From Detroit” gives Sundance attendees a closer look at the city responsible for one of hip hop’s greatest acts. For over the past twenty-three years, Marshall Mathers (a.k.a Eminem) has changed hip-hop in an explosive way. Growing up, Marshall dreamed of rapping his way out of Detroit, MI, but, years and fortunes

The Jarvish AR motorcycle helmet combines form and function into one cutting-edge package. It’s really a stroke of genius when you stop and think about it. On the one hand, there’s the growing appetite for augmented reality functionality among consumers; having real-time, hands-free digital information and applications overlaid onto our surroundings is, after all, the

Sequels don’t come much more by-the-numbers than Holopoint Chronicle. But then, for a game so matter-of-fact as ‘shoot arrows, get fit’, you don’t really need much else, do you? The original Holopoint helped people lose weight and the sequel looks like it will do the same.

This is evolution over revolution, with incremental improvements and additions leading to an overall better, more robust experience. The core of the game is the same; holographic projections appear around you and you have to shoot them with a bow and arrow as quickly as possible. When hit, targets fire a projectile back at you and you need to lean out of the way.

It’s a rhythm that keeps you alert, engaged and, most importantly, active. Holopoint is all about keeping on your toes and spinning in circles at all times in search of targets. Enemies will disappear if you don’t shoot them in time so you won’t have much opportunity for a breather. Were it less intense of an exercise it would surely lose its edge.

For context, I’m a regular runner. After my first 20 minute session with Holopoint Chronicle my heart was beating hastily and I was working up a sweat. The next day the muscles around my waist. Clearly it was the first time I’d used them in a while. This was all from some of the game’s earliest missions, where things are introduced at a pretty sturdy pace. If you’re looking for a VR game to keep you fit, this is definitely one to bear in mind, with one caveat.

Intensity comes at the cost of comfort. I’d love to be able to spend an hour or more working out in Holopoint but the constant spinning left me feeling dizzy and nauseous pretty quickly. Again, I’m not someone that suffers from VR sim sickness often, so make of that what you will.

But some of Chronicle’s additions do take some of that strain away. New projector objects give you hints as to the next target’s location, for example. That eases the frustration of suddenly being shot in the back and keeps you from being overwhelmed for just a little longer. You can now also notch up arrows without having to reach into your quill, a somewhat bothersome step in the first game.

But there’s still room for improvement. For starters, there’s still absolutely no introduction to what Holopoint is, how it works and how you progress. You sort of just have to stumble your way through it. I had no idea how to unlock later levels in the campaign, which discouraged me from actually doing so. Holopoint is a game that gets by on the strength of its core mechanics, but with a little spit n’ shine it could really inspire VR gamers to take their fitness to the next level.

Final Score: 7/10 – Good

Holopoint Chronicle is a fitting follow-up to a VR fitness gem with some welcome additions. This remains one of VR’s most engaging active games even if it requires a strong stomach (in more ways

Sony’s PSVR headset has proven to be something of a white knight for VR. Despite being technically inferior to the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on almost every level, PlayStation leveraged 20+ years of industry experience to create an awesome line-up for its PS4-based device. PSVR is home to many of VR’s best games and is also arguably the most accessible mainstream headset available.

It’s important to get a list of the best PSVR games right, then. There’s plenty of obvious choices, but PSVR also houses many hidden gems. We wanted to make a list that reflected that.

Throughout the week we’re going to be updating this list with five games a day in ranked order, leading up to the game we’ve crowned as, yes, the very best game on the platform. Once we’re done, this will be our new and definitive list, replacing our previous, smaller version. Updates will appear on this very page so make sure to check back through the week.

Let’s get on with it, then. Here are UploadVR’s 25 best PSVR games.

25. Borderlands 2 VR – Read Our Review

It may not have seen the most nuanced VR integration but Borderlands 2’s massive world, plentiful quests and deep loot system still make it something of a treat for PSVR players. This is the entire original game in which you step onto an alien world in the hopes of finding fame and fortune. You are, of course, met by a legion of deadly beasts to slay and crazy characters to meet.

Sadly, there’s no coop here. But Gearbox has redesigned the game to fit VR instead. That includes the BAMF system that slows down time and allows you to really bring the pain. Pair that with dual-wielding Move controllers to aim and you feel like a real badass.

24. Thumper – Read Our Review

There probably isn’t anything else in VR as palm-sweatingly tense as Thumper, an immensely immersive exploration of anxiety. You shoot down a course, trying to steer into corners to avoid damage, but the game’s pulsating soundtrack and visuals drum up an uncanny sense of dread literally at every turn.

It may be a VR optional game, but there aren’t many other apps out there that can lose you in their hypnotic style. As the track swerves and the music gently growls, the sudden beat of a drum causes your heart to leap and your nerves begin to shred. There’s nothing quite like it.

23. Dirt Rally – Read Our Review

Against all odds, Codemasters did a fantastic job of porting Dirt Rally over to PSVR. This is one of our very favorite VR racers. Unlike some games that strip back their content in VR *cough* Gran Turismo Sport *cough*, Rally provides the full experience inside a headset.

That means there’s plenty of content ready and waiting in this high-speed, bumpy ride. But it’s just how finely tuned the experience is that really separates Dirt Rally from the pack. No one knows how to do racers like Codemasters. The mechanical precision and campaign depth on